Gridlines
by EpikLOTRProductions
Summary: In the heart of Moscow, a man by the name of Efton Corial has somehow managed to conceal a nuclear facility underground. It's up to IRT agent Nick Shields to stop him.
1. INTRO

INTRO TO GRIDLINES

The resounding clank of metal boots boomed throughout the facility. All around the hissing and clanking of powerful machinery reverberated in the large metal room. Blinding white facility lights filled the area and cast strange shadows as a tall man in a trench coat walked swirly and determinedly down a cold, metal catwalk.

He approached a short bald headed man in a white lab coat holding a clipboard who was engrossed in his work, which included typing furiously into a Mac.

"Report" the baldheaded man jumped and let out a squeal dropping his clipboard. "Oh! ... So sorry sir! ... I uh..." "Spit it out." The man spoke with a faint English accent and his voice was both quiet and deep at the same time. "We are right on schedule sir. We should have our first warhead by next week." The bald headed man wiped some sweat from his brow, obviously uncomfortable under this man's stare. "Good. Make sure nothing goes wrong." The man turned on a heel and walked away swiftly, his boots making the same clank as before.

Hidden up in the metal rafters of the facility, hidden in the shadows crouched a man in a black jump suite. His eyes darting rapidly to and fro, a small handheld camera in his hand. "Now we have something on Efton." He muttered under his breath. He began slowly moving across the rafters. He silently dropped down onto the catwalk, arching his feet to mute the impact. Here came the most fragile part of his plan. He had to move quickly. It was here he was most exposed. At first glance he could be easily mistaken as a security guard but one glance could also reveal that he was missing the security guards trademark badge. He got a few glances from the scientists below but most was accustomed to the guards that made constant rounds around the facility. His hopes soared as he finally reached the automatic door that was near his exit point. But to his utter horror, a guard stepped out of the automatic door.

The guard looked up uninterestedly, but his eyes widened as he noticed the missing badge. The agent whipped his gun out of his holster but the guard had enough time to hit the emergency lock down button. Alarms blared throughout the compound. The agent fired a quick shot into the man's skull and took off sprinting. Other guards poured from doors below. Machine gun fire clattered against the catwalk below his feet. More guards came from doors behind him and in front. He squeezed off three shots, downing two guards and dove off the catwalk. He tucked and rolled to break the impact and was instantly on his feet. He took off, ducking and weaving among the many machines and equipment all the while dodging bullets. He burst out into the open near his only exit. He slid toward the door.

He knew he was dead before the bullet hit him. His mind wandered home. To his wife. His kids. Even his dog. His head hit the floor with a longing smile.

The man in the trench coat lowered his hand gun as the security rushed up to him. "This better not happened again." The man stared at the agent's dead body. "Or you'll end up like him." He turned and walked away...


	2. Chapter 2

GRIDLINES

CHAPTER ONE

Rain pounded on Nick Shields' car. His windshield-wipers flicking back rapidly in a desperate attempt to keep Nick's vision clear.

Nick was twenty-one and was in prime condition. He had jet black hair fashioned in a flat-top with a small spike in the front, along with eyes that spoke volumes. His eyes could sparkle and glow, but then change to cold piercing eyes in a moment. Nick was taller than most people, but not noticeably so. He was an obsessive runner and proved it by running six miles each morning. Mr. Shields was happily single.

Lightning flashed illuminating his face , revealing a focused look. Earlier he had received a blank text from a unknown, invisible number. As usual he had hooked it up to his amped up Windows computer with a firewall that had the power to withstand any virus. As usual an incised text appeared which read, "Gold Eagle's been neutralized. Report immediately."

Nick immediately hopped into his little grey sports car and quickly departed. He had the potential to make quite the pretty penny, but he had to keep a low profile. Working for IRT was risky business. One of the reasons he didn't even try to find a wife. He didn't need the weak point.

Nick pulled up to his "job" at the "First International Bank". Or most so most people thought. As he stepped through the sleek glass sliding doors, he received a smile from the young lady receptionist, who gave him a sly wink. Nick nodded coldly. When in thought, Nick wasn't know for his friendliness.

He went through a series of doors, at each he either punched in a combination or slid an ID card.

Soon he found himself in a long white hallway. Walking hastily Nick moved down the hall, and arrived at a locked door. He showed his ID to a monitor which led to another monitor popping up.

"Nick Shields. Field agent. First class. 978653421." Nick said into the glowing monitor.

"Voice verification accepted."

The door slid open slowly and heavily as if carrying a heavy weight, but smoothly. Nick stepped into the elevator, and immediately the door contracted again.

The elevator hummed with power. Everything was slick and glossy white, with glowing blue touchscreen controls. A flashing number blinked, "4-3-2-1..." And instantly the elevator shot downward with unimaginable speed. Nick gripped the handrails to keep his balance . No matter how many times he rode "The Chute" as they called it, Nick still felt uneasy and unbalanced.

The elevator slowly decreased its speed, and eventually came to a hissing stop. Before the door opened another monitor that resembled a pair of scuba goggles glided out of a panel near the exit of the elevator. Nick placed his eyes in the sockets and felt a piercing blue light pass over his eyes.

"Welcome back Agent Shields." Came a cool feminine voice from hidden speakers.

The door opened and Nick stepped out into a bustling room, filled with computers and TV screens. Once again everything was sleek and polished, but arrayed in a grey color. A blue insignia was imprinted on the floor. It was a triangle with a circle in the center. Engraved into the circle were the letters "IRT". Under it said "International Response Team". That was who he worked for. That was the reason he was here.

There was all kinds of movement around the insignia. A circle of grey desks surrounded it, with openings on the ends. All kinds of computers and monitors lay neatly aligned on the desks.

Nick ignored all this and went straight to a door that was labeled, "COMMANDER". Despite his concentration and distractedness, Nick didn't forget to knock.

"Come in." Came a deep voice from the other side of the door.

Nick flung the door open, embarrassingly composed himself, and sat down, but not before greeting the commander with a firm handshake.

They sat still for a moment, gathering their thoughts. At last Nick spoke up.

"So Benton's been neutralized." They rarely used the word "killed" among the IRT operatives. It was too big of a fear to be spoken freely of.

"Yes. Gold Eagles been neutralized."

Nick stared at his hands.

"I think I already know why I'm here."

"Smart man." The commander smiled grimly.

"Shields you're our best operative. And according to our latest intel, this situation is dire."

"Right. Is it ever not?"

"Haha. Benton made one mistake. Well actually probably two considering the fact he was neutralized, but we don't know that for sure. He recorded a conversation between Efton and one of his associates. As soon as he finished recording, he started transmitting it back to IRT headquarters. The mistake was he was ki- neutralized before he finished transmitting. We now lost all leads to Efton except one."

Nick nodded his head slowly.

"We know that Efton, with the help of his limitless resources, has somehow managed to build an untraceable, underground nuclear facility. We have no evidence to show the government if we can't pin point a location. Now if we can just..."

Nick cut him off.

"Wait... Untraceable NUCLEAR facility? How the heck is that even possible?"

The commander shook his head sadly.

"We have no idea. He must have technology like never seen before. I mean state of the art, all the bells and whistles. I mean I'm not surprised. His resources are limitless as I mentioned earlier. Our next step is laid out nicely for us. Definitely not easy, but fairly straightforward. We know one of Efton's sellers."

Nick looked surprised.

"Wow! That's... That's a nice lead!"

"Yes it is. And I need you guys to make the most of it. Get any information out of him as you can. Everything's already set up for you. We have a safehouse set up in Croatia for you. You can bring our man there if you need."

Nick looked grim.

"What?"

"I can't do it alone."

"Of course not! I've already created a team."

"Who?"

"You'll find out." The commander winked at him.

Nick rolled his eyes and smiled.

Thousands of miles away in an underground facility, another step was taken to achieving a nuclear weapon...


End file.
